Unlock Your Potential: A Breakdown of Running Workouts
At Moonshot Run Club, we know consistency is key to unlocking your full potential as a runner. However, we also believe that variety is just as essential to stimulate continuous progress. That’s why our workouts come in many forms, and in this article, we’ll provide a quick breakdown of all the workouts that might appear in your training plan—and how they benefit your performance. Be sure to also check out our Intensity Guidelines and How to Interpret Workout Instructions articles to help you get the most out of each session.
TL;DR
- Easy Runs: Develop your aerobic base with conversational efforts
- Long Runs: Extend endurance and improve fuel efficiency
- Progression Runs: Strengthen your aerobic engine
- Fartlek Runs: Challenge both your aerobic and anaerobic systems
- Threshold Runs: Train your body to clear lactate efficiently
- Internal Runs (VO2max): Boost your aerobic capacity and speed
- Hills & Speed Runs: Develop on strength, power, and economy
- Race-Specific Runs: Specific-endurance tailored to your goals
- Join Moonshot Run Club! Access a library of over 100 workouts
Easy Runs
Running at an easy pace forms the foundation of your training plan. These sessions are done at a light intensity, where you can maintain a conversational effort throughout. Easy running boosts cardiovascular fitness and builds endurance, while helping your body recover from more intense workouts. It makes up the majority of your weekly training volume, providing the base for all other workouts. Moreover, it’s essential for preventing overtraining and improving running efficiency over time. Focus on keeping the pace light, breathing comfortably, and maintaining good form.
Long Runs
Long runs are the longest sessions in your weekly schedule, with the distance gradually increasing based on your race goals. For marathons, these runs may extend to 30+ kilometers, while for shorter races like 5Ks, they may last up to 90 minutes. The pace should stay conversational to build aerobic fitness and stamina, while strengthening slow-twitch muscle fibers for endurance. More experienced runners will incorporate harder long runs, targeting specific training adaptations. These runs can include segments at threshold intensity or race pace, helping to build the strength and mental toughness needed to sustain race-day efforts. These variations help you prepare both physically and mentally for the demands of racing.
Progression Runs
Progression runs add an extra aerobic stimulus to an otherwise easy workout—without causing excessive fatigue. You’ll start at a relaxed pace and gradually increase the intensity, finishing at a stronger pace, typically at a moderate to hard effort. These runs help strengthen your aerobic engine, build endurance, and prepare you for more challenging threshold workouts. They also teach your body how to gradually ramp up effort while maintaining good form.
Fartlek Runs
Fartlek, meaning “speed play” in Swedish, is an unstructured workout that alternates between moderate and hard efforts, followed by easy recovery. After a warmup, you’ll run faster for short periods (30 seconds to 3 minutes) and recover at an easy pace. Fartleks challenge both your aerobic and anaerobic systems, building mental toughness and stamina. The freedom to vary pace keeps things fresh and exciting, while preparing you for tougher workouts by improving your ability to manage changing intensities.
Threshold/Tempo Runs
Threshold runs, also known as tempo runs, are designed to improve your lactate threshold—the point at which lactic acid builds up in your muscles. You’ll run at a “comfortably hard” pace, where you can still talk in broken phrases but are working hard enough to feel challenged. These runs help increase your ability to sustain faster paces for longer periods as you improve your body’s ability to clear lactate from your muscles. These runs come in all kinds of formats and will challenge you, guaranteed. When doing threshold intervals, the typical work-to-rest ratio is usually 5:1 (5 minutes hard followed by 1 minute easy).
Interval Runs (VO2max)
VO2max workouts are high-intensity intervals designed to push your aerobic capacity and speed. Widely regarded as the pinnacle of interval training, these workouts unlock the “no pain, no gain” mentality that’s inside all of us. The sessions involve short, intense bursts of effort followed by recovery periods. The goal is to improve your body’s efficiency at using oxygen, increasing your ability to run faster and longer without fatigue. These workouts typically push you to 90% to 100% of your VO2max, but not beyond. While taxing, they’re essential for building speed and improving performance at higher intensities. The typical work-to-rest ratio is 3:2 (3 minutes hard followed by 2 minutes easy). For shorter intervals (e.g., 30 seconds), the rest period is usually reduced to maintain intensity and accumulate more time at or near VO2max.
Hills & Speed Runs
Hills and speed workouts are both designed to make you a faster runner. Hill sprints and repeats build strength and power in your legs by challenging your muscles, improving running mechanics, and boosting cardiovascular endurance. Speed workouts focus on running at a fast pace for shorter intervals, helping to improve leg turnover and running economy. Both types of workouts are essential for increasing your speed and overall running performance. The typical work:rest ratio for these workouts is 1:1, though it can be adjusted to more if necessary. The goal is to be fully recovered between repetitions so you can hit the next effort as hard as required.
Race-Specific Runs
In addition to foundational sessions, we prescribe specialized race-specific workouts tailored to prepare you for your target race—whether it’s a 5K, half marathon, or marathon. These sessions focus on race-day pacing, fueling strategies, and mental preparation to help you perform at your best. For example, marathon-specific workouts may include race-pace runs and strategies for managing the later miles, ensuring you’re ready both physically and mentally for race day.
Join Moonshot Run Club!
All members—whether actively coached or not—have access to a full library of over 100 running workouts, ensuring you have everything you need to continue your training and become a stronger, more efficient runner.
